Retirement for Peter Smith

Retirement for Peter Smith


Professor Peter Smith has announced his retirement from The University of Arizona and LPL. Peter began his career at LPL in 1978 as a research assistant/postdoc; he was named Professor in 2009. Peter's career is rich with highlights and milestones, including:

  • role as PI for the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) Science Team
  • design and construction of the IMP lander camera (1993-1997)
  • service on several science teams and instrument design projects, including the MRO HiRISE camera.
  • role as PI for the PHOENIX mission (2003-2008).

We will miss Peter as a colleague at LPL, but wish him all the best has he pursues new adventures and opportunities!

April 9, 2013

To my friends and co-workers at LPL:

I am retiring from the department and the University on July 1, 2013.

I think back to my start at the Lunar and Planetary Lab when I worked part time for wages as a new graduate from Optical Sciences helping Marty Tomasko calibrate his Pioneer Venus instrument.  The thrill of planetary exploration was soon in my blood and I have had the good fortune that my lifecycle directly overlaps the beginning of the Space Age from Sputnik to OSIRIS-REx.  After 35 years, having led a mission to Mars operated from the UA and having worked with the giants of planetary science and the country’s major institutions of engineering, I am ready to start the next phase of life.

As one chapter ends another begins and I have a long bucket list of adventures that should fulfill the next phase of my life.It has been so rewarding working at the UA and in Planetary Science, and I shall miss daily contact with the many friends and colleagues who have made the years fly by in intellectual discourse and good fellowship.

Peter Smith